The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-05-25
The Star Of Bethlehem.
b. CassioDeia.

b. CassiOpeia.
Not a very ineligible name, is it?
And vet that is the name of lumlna-
nv Which on memorable occasion did
exceedingly good service to certain
wise men from the East, thereby win
ming for itself more glory and renoWn
than has ever fallen to the lot of any
other constellation in the heavens.
1t was B. Cassiopeia and no other
star that revealed to the anxious orien..
tai seekers after truth the birthplace'o OF
Jesus Christ. Such at least is the pop
uIar belief, and no astronomer has as
vet succeeded in proving that the pop
ular belief is wrong.
OF course b. tasSiopeia did not get
it, Latin name until quite recent
Times. For many centuries after II
flashed before 4 wondering world u
was known TO the ignorant and learn
ed alike as the long lost star. of Bethle-
hem. And probably it would never
have been christened anew had it seen
fit to remain in the obscurity into
which it passed after its first memora-
BILE appearance.
appear again."
"Well, it was due in 1880, and may
appear any day now. lam assuming,
of course, that it is & variable star,
with a period of little more than
three hundred years. Its last period
was three hundred and eight years.
Within the last two thousand years
twenty-four of these temporary stars
have appeared, and all Of them, like
Dofl,1a1,np, h0vn hppn
characterized by sudden outbursts that
have been always followed by qules-
cence. Eruptions of blazing hydro,
gen are the cause of these out6ursts."
II have seen it stated that this star
of Bethlehem might be identical with
the nucleus which Hartwig, of Stras-
burg, discovered in the nebula of An
dromeda in September, 1885. Is that
possible?"
"No, sir, for the simple reason that
one star is in Andronleda and the 9th
er in Cassiopciar. No one who is not
gifted with an extraordinary imagina-
ton can even conceive Of q star ira
versing the distance between these
two positions in anything like 3O0
years." =,
"What is its exact position in the
heavens nOW?"
"Between HOW and May 5 its exact
position can be seen close to the North
! Pole at half-past ten o'clock at night:
Probably many telescopes are turned
toward that point from time to time"
"Thc star of Bethlehem or the Pil.
grim. as il is also called,n said the edi-
! ter Of scientific journal of this city,
"may %ppcarat any moment. 1t was
due in 1850, and ought certainly to he
| here now---that is, assuming that 1t
shows itself every $40 years. | be-
| licvc it has been traced back as far rs
$40, and there is certainly no reason
why it should forget to pay us visit
| this year. One can never tell, how
ever, what Il variable star will 40. It's
appearance would create Worldwide
interest, because it would strengthen
the popular belief that it is the very
same star that guided the wise men
from the East to Jerusalem. School
children, as well as astronomers,
would he interested in such case.
Several other competent persons
were interviewed on the subject, and
the consensus of opinion seemed to be
that the star would appear in a short
time and astonish the world with its
old time brilliancy. One thing is GER
tain. that for some time to come all
who own telescopes will turn them
pretty frequently toward that point of
The heavens in which B. Cassiopela
has lain dormant for three centuries.